


Fierce

by ScarletteStar1



Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Love Story, Magic, Rumbelle - Freeform, Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold's glorious fluffy hair, fairy tale, happy ending (for once lol)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:01:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletteStar1/pseuds/ScarletteStar1
Summary: Belle spends centuries making her way back to Rumplestiltskin. . .
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Fierce

**Author's Note:**

> I don't typically write fluff so Idk where this lil thing came from, but ok.

There's was no way around, but through.

Darkness and noise of night in the forest terrified Belle. Her heart thrummed faster than it ever had in the Beast's castle, even when he grabbed her and forced her out.

Shivering, she wrapped her cloak more closely around her. She rubbed the bruises on her wrists from where he’d gripped her with fierce strength and rage.

As a child, she’d heard stories about a little princess who'd run off in the woods to escape a wicked stepmother. The princess had been tracked by a huntsman, who cut out her heart to return it as proof to the evil queen stepmother that the beautiful child was forever gone.

Such haunted childhood tales returned now to cackle at Belle from behind trees, to leer from boughs and branches, and snarl from depths of darkness. The ground wriggled beneath her feet and something swooped at her from the inky sky.

Belle was quite certain she'd need no huntsman to cut out her heart. She'd die of fright, if she didn't first die of exposure in the frigid rain falling in steady sheets. Legs cramping and chest heaving, she was unable to traverse another step, Belle slumped to the ground. Her body screamed for water so she licked at the rain but it was not near enough to slake her thirst. What would the Beast do, she wondered, when he found she'd died at the gnarled roots of a tree in the middle of a raging storm? Would he even know? Or care?

Into herself she curled, like a shadow on the sodden ground. It seemed as good a time as any to give in to endless sleep.

In the moments before closing her eyes against the world, she recalled the flicker of warmth as their lips met, for that brief instant in the enormous room they'd come to share. In that room, he allowed her to tear down curtains and thereby gave her sunlight. He'd allowed her to sip tea with him. He'd given her free range of his entire castle, even the library. He'd granted her the most precious gift of all, his trust, when he allowed her to venture into the village to fetch his straw. Belle knew how difficult it was for him to believe she would return to him. She'd seen fear fill his eyes, calcify his face with a mix of pain and sorrow as he granted her leave.

But she _had_ returned. Never in her life had she run as fast as she ran back to him.

Huddled in the rain, wishing for death to claim her, her actions struck her as laughably bold. How brazen it had been to slip her body close to his and reach for his dusky lips with her own. His hard, strong body had melted under her touch in that solitary moment and she thrilled at the sensation of his tongue darting out to caress her mouth. His hair felt surprisingly soft beneath her fingers as she stroked his head with a giggle. For just that instant, she’d not been even slightly afraid. It was possibly the bravest she’d ever been.

She felt blissfully victorious, but just as quickly as it began, Rumplestiltskin shoved her hard and howled at her.

  
Belle sought the sting of the wounds on her wrists, relishing their tangible reminder of his touch, even if it had been in savage despair. Her mind began to blur and she circled back to their kiss, desperate to die upon that memory that she might exist in its perfection forever.

“I am ready now,” she whispered into the wind.

But she did not die.

Her eyes opened and she stood on legs shaky as a newborn colt in the mud. Uncertain of which direction she was going, she began to run.

“I’m coming, Rumple!” She cried against thundering sky.

Stumbling, tripping, she threw her body into night, suddenly as wondrously fearless as she’d been when she kissed her beautiful Beast, because love made her fierce. Thorns and branches shredded her gown and flesh, but she kept on.

A thick fog rose and made it impossible for her to know if she ran for hours or days. As she raced through a darkness that swirled like Rumplestiltskin’s eyes, lightening crashed and a mysterious crimson smoke climbed around her. It swallowed her. It blinded and deafened her. It made her weightless and lifted her off of the forest floor. In fact, it made her something entirely unfamiliar and strange as though she were in a dream. Altered, transformed, transported, she had no facilities to fear or fight.

When she woke, brightness disoriented her. Through a muffle of voices came a sharp song of birds. Senses restored, she found herself in an odd, thick coat. She stood on a slight hill in the woods.

Blinking, she realized she was not alone.

She followed a trim figure dressed in black. Belle stopped short and almost bit her lip.

“It’s just a bit further, up here,” the man said as he rushed forward down the hill.

“Rumplestiltskin!” Belle cried. He stopped and turned. He looked foreign and familiar all at once. Belle ran to him. “I remember now. I remember it all,” she said. His hazel eyes widened, wild with grief and longing.

“Belle,” he whispered. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms where she felt the weight of remorse and regret- hundreds of years worth- in his touch, almost as sinister as the curse he’d carried as the Dark One. She touched his chest and felt the weight begin to drift away from him.

“I tried,” she said. “I swear I tried to come back to you. I don’t know what happened or where I’ve been.”

“You’re here now, Dearie,” he murmured and stroked her cheek.

“I was going to prove my love to you.”

“Belle. . . there’s nothing to prove.”

“I have to make you believe. Is it too late?”

This time, it was he who sought her mouth with his. At first he kissed her with tentative tenderness, as if uncertain. Belle clutched the lapels of his coat with one hand and wove the fingers of her other hand into his silky hair. At the wonderful sensation of his warmth beneath her hands, Belle whimpered a moan of desire against his mouth and their kiss instantly deepened so they could feel and know every sparkling second of the centuries they’d spent loving and longing for each other.

  
“I’d say you were right on time, Love,” Rumplestiltskin sighed against her and they clung fiercely to one another, determined to never let go again.

**Author's Note:**

> You honestly made my day by reading and this author absolutely worships any and all comments you feel motivated to leave. I try to respond to everyone, as I feel connection and communication is absolutely vital now more than ever. Have a wonderful day and tons of love to you!


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